Mehmet Savsar1 and Amina Aldehaim2
1Kuwait University, Kuwait, msavsar@gmail.com
2Kuwait University, Kuwait, aldehaiem@gmail.com
One of the problems faced in production facilities is the material handling, which may account between 20-50% of total costs of manufacturing and distribution. Material handling is directly related to facility layout. In many instances, wrong facility layouts result in excessive handling costs, which could be eliminated or minimized through effective layout procedures. In this paper, we present a case application of facility layout for a furniture factory, which has a wood and a fabric section, each with fourteen departments. About 23 types of sofa models are produced in the factory, where excessive material and personnel flows and backflows were observed during the detailed study.
Quantitative and qualitative layout models were used to estimate total costs of material flow for the current layout as well as for proposed improved layout. It was found that using appropriate layout techniques, unnecessary flows could be eliminated, and total material flow costs could be minimized. This study illustrates a real case application of using facility layout tools and their effects on improving total material handling and minimizing costs. Interdepartmental distance matrix, material and worker flow matrix, and weighting factors were used to quantify the total costs of flow between departments. Furthermore, activity and space relationship charts were developed based on the flows between departments, which resulted in qualitative relationships between departments. By using these relations, re-layout of departments was structured in a way that the total flows could be minimized. The proposed re-layout resulted in significant improvements in material handling and was accepted by management for implementation.
Keywords: Facility Layout, Furniture Factory, Material Handling, Material Flows, Relationship Diagramming